Cotton-spinning is a term employed to describe in the aggregate all the operations involved in transforming raw cotton into yarn. The word 'spinning' has also a more limited signification, being used to denote the concluding process of the series. The following affords a general notion of the nature and order of the successive operations carried on in the manufacture of cottonyarn:
(1) Mixing, the blending of different varieties of raw cotton, in order to secure economical production, uniform quality and colour, and an even thread in any desired degree.
(2) Cleaning, an operation partly effected in mixing, partly by scutching, the cotton being prepared in the form of a continuous lap or rolled sheet for the next process.
(3) Carding, an operation in which the material is treated in its individual fibres, which are taken from the lap, further cleansed, and laid in a position approximately parallel to each other, forming a thin film, which is afterwards condensed into a sliver - a round, untwisted strand of cotton.
(4) Drawing, the drawing out of several slivers to the dimensions of one, so as to render the new sliver more uniform in thickness, and to place the fibres more perfectly in parallel order.
(5) Stubbing, the further drawing or attenuation of the sliver, and slightly twisting it in order to preserve its cohesion and rounded form.
(6) Intermediate or second stubbing, a repetition of the former operation and further attenuation, not necessary in the production of coarse yarns.
(7) Having, a continuation of the preceding, its principal object being to still further attenuate the sliver, and give it a slight additional twist.
(8) Spinning, which completes the extension and twisting of the yarn. This is accomplished either with the throstle or the mule. By means of the former machine the yarn receives a hard twist, which renders it tough and strong. By means of the latter yarns of less strength are produced, such as warps of light fabrics and wefts of all kind.
Up to the middle of the 18th century the only method of spinning known was that by the hand-wheel, or the still more primitive distaff and spindle. In 1767 a poor weaver of the name of Hargreaves, residing at Stanhill, near Blackburn, in Lancashire, invented a machine for spinningcotton, which he named a spinning-jenny. It consisted at first of eight spindles, turned by a horizontal wheel, but was afterwards greatly extended and improved, so as to have the vertical substituted for the horizontal wheel, and give motion to from fifty to eighty spindles. In 1769 Arkwright, originally a barber's apprentice, took out a patent for spinning by rollers. From the circumstances of the mill erected by Arkwright at Cromford, in Derbyshire, being driven by water-power, his machine received the name of the water-frame, and the thread spun on it that of water-twist. The next important invention in cotton-spinning was that of the mule, introduced by Samuel Crompton, of Bolton, in 1775, and so called from its combining the principle of the spinning-jenny of Hargreaves with the roller-spinning of Arkwright.
Numerous improvements in cotton-spinning have been subsequently introduced up to the present day, but they are all, more or less, modifications of Arkwright's spinning-frame and Crompton's mule-jenny. Among the principal of these may be mentioned the throstle, an extension and simplification of the original spinning-frame, introduced about the year 1810. Research Cotton-Spinning
The Stage Society was a British society for the production of dramas of literary merit which otherwise had little prospect of securing performance. Founded in 1899, the Stage Society's first production was Bernard Shaw's 'You Never Can Tell', played at the Strand Theatre, London, on May the 2nd 1900. In 1904 the Stage Society became the Incorporated Stage Society. Research Stage Society
The Strand Magazine was founded in 1891 by Sir George Newnes and was immediately popular not least for its Sherlock Holmes stories which it carried written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Research Strand Magazine
Unitarianism is a system of theology. It is a belief that God exists in one Person. Some writers maintain that Unitarianism was coeval with the Apostolic Church. Described as succeeding to Arianism, Arminianism, and Socinianiam, it has undergone, many changes in modern times. Unitarian congregations first arose in Poland and Hungary. Persecution, the martyrdom of men like Michael Servetus in Switzerland, John Biddle and Bartholomew Legate in England, and Francis David in Transylvania, as well as repression in Italy and elsewhere, gave it impetus. After the Reformation many Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists were drawn to it, and Milton, Locke, Newton, and Isaac Watts are said to have favoured it. Among its leaders, James Priestley and James Martineau in England, and Theodore Parker and W E Channing in America are conspicuous. In the USA the name given to the system is Universalism.
With no creed, and opposed to dogma, its modern position in Great Britain has been defined as a belief in the unity of God, in the humanity of Jesus, who is regarded as a prophet superhumanly endowed in progressive revelation and in the immortal hope for all mankind. While believing in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, Unitarians deny the doctrine of the Trinity, the verbal infallibility of the Bible, and eternal torment. They claim to be open to all the revelations of science and evolution, and to all that is implied by the laws of change. Their ministers and congregations are free and independent.
Most of the churches have Sunday schools. The first Unitarian church in London was founded by Theophilus Lindsey in Essex Street, Strand. The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was founded in 1825; a national Unitarian conference was organized at Liverpool in 1882; and there are training colleges at Manchester and Oxford. Research Unitarianism
Daniel Mendoza (nicknamed 'Light of Israel')was an English boxer. He was born in 1764 and died in 1836. He won the English prize-ring championship in 1795. He is remarkable for being the first boxer to realise the value of publicity, and of being the first to concentrate on defence, introducing side-stepping and quick movements of the feet to avoid his opponents blows. He was also the first boxer to give exhibitions before audiences which included women and members of the royal family. In 1791 he opened the Lyceum in the Strand as a boxing school. Research Daniel Mendoza
Jack Sheppard (real name John Sheppard) was an English highwayman. He was born in 1702 at Stepney, London and hanged in 1724 at Tyburn. He was a workhouse child who abandoned his apprenticeship with Owen Wood, carpenter in the Strand, and took up robbery. He escaped from prison many times, most notably escaping from the condemned cell in Newgate in 1724 where he was chained to the floor. Research Jack Sheppard
Jacob Tonson was an English publisher. he was born in 1656 and died in 1736. He started business at the Judge's Head, Chancery Lane, London in 1678, later moved to Gray's Inn Gate where his brother, Richard Tonson had opened a bookshop in 1676, and then to the Shakespeare's Head in the Strand. He became printer of parliamentary votes, was secretary to the Kit-Cat Club, for which he built a room at Barn Elms, and is remembered as the publisher of Milton's Paradise Lost, Rowe's Shakespeare and works by Dryden, Addison and Steele. he retired in 1720, the business being carried on by his nephew, also called Jacob Tonson, and his great-nephew who was also called Jacob Tonson. Research Jacob Tonson
Thomas Coutts was a British banker. He was born in 1735 at Edinburgh and died in 1822. The son of an Edinburghprovost, at an early age he went to London where, together with his brother James he founded the London banking house of Coutss and Co. in the Strand, London, becoming the sole partner on his brother's death in 1778. He acted as banker to George III. Research Thomas Coutts
Edward O'Connor Terry was an English actor. He was born in 1844 at London and died in 1912. He made his debut on the stage in 1863 and from 1868 until 1875 was the principal comedian at The Strand Theatre, London where in 1874 he was acclaimed in the title role of the comedy 'Paul Pry'. From 1875 until 1885 he played in various burlesques at the Old Gaiety Theatre and in 1888 produced at the Edward Terry theatre Pinero's sentimental comedy 'Sweet Lavender', which furnished him with his most famous part, that of the bibulous barrister 'Dick Phenyl'. Research Edward Terry
The married joint is an electrical joint used for joining multi-strand cables. The wires are unstranded, then interlaced with the wires of the other cable, and then married (twisted) together before finally being soldered. Research Married Joint
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Abbreviations
Research Cotton-Spinning
